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Laban Mento - Tiger Pearl


declanh

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I number of weeks back I got a Laban Mento. I wanted to try out a "Full Size/Oversize" pen and was taken by the photos on the net of he Laban Mento. It was also keenly priced which was certainly a factor.

 

I orderd the Tiger Pearl with a medium nib. When it first arrived It certainly was the size I was expecting but not so much the colour.

I'd been thinking it would have had much reder tones but that said its not an unattractive pen.

 

Since I got it ive tried it with a number of different inks - Mont Blanc Racing Green, PR Electric DC Blue (as review) and various others Diamines.

 

Although I ordered a medium nib it writes more like a fine. The nib writes slightly on the wet side and is not the smoothest ive used. Its not really rough but it has a fair bit of tooth compared to the Waterman Expert II or either of my Pelikans.

 

 

As you may see from the photo there is some nib creep with the PR ink - to be honest most inks i have tried creep to some extent.

 

Overall I dont really regret the purchase but it not the same fun to write with as some of my other pens and I dont know if I could use it for a full day writing. I think id rate my satisfaction factor about 7/10

 

Im very rapidly running out of attachement space here on FPN so only one photo of the pen and one of sample writing.

post-8434-1221171926_thumb.jpg

 

post-8434-1221171946_thumb.jpg

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I see from your post that this was just done today. This is a welcome and interesting review. I like the photo quality as it shows the well thought out barrel profile including the nib, and the cap lip appears to be quite thick. The color is rich and has some nice swirls of black in the cap. Construction wise, this pen appears to be well made and something one would want to write with. If you're inclined, do tell us how many turns to get the cap off.

 

Thanks and hope you have fun with it.

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I see from your post that this was just done today. This is a welcome and interesting review. I like the photo quality as it shows the well thought out barrel profile including the nib, and the cap lip appears to be quite thick. The color is rich and has some nice swirls of black in the cap. Construction wise, this pen appears to be well made and something one would want to write with. If you're inclined, do tell us how many turns to get the cap off.

 

Thanks and hope you have fun with it.

Brian, just tested it. I would say its one and one quarter turns to get the cap off.

 

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Thanks for the write-up . . . sorry to hear that you're not much closer to 10/10 on your satisfaction.

 

I have a relatively new Mento in the Rainforest resin. I personally find it to be quite comfortable to write with . . . the combination of girth and light weight seem to fit my hand and writing style.

 

The picture is striking. I debated getting the Tiger Pearl in lieu of the Rainforest, and had I seen your pic I probably would have! I'm still on the prowl for an orange pen, and I've had my eye on the Laban Sceptre . . . perhaps that's a combo I should seriously consider.

"Thus Ar-Pharazôn, King of the Land of the Star, grew to the mightiest tyrant

that had yet been in the world since the reign of Morgoth . . ."

— J.R.R. Tolkien, Akallabêth —

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Thanks for the review. I think the color of the pen is great.

 

I discovered the Mento several months ago and I like the size and balance of the pen so much I have acquired four of them. All of mine write true F or M lines, and I have one B nib in gold that writes just a tiny bit on the wet side. So far I am very happy with my Mentos, hence I regret that you are not enjoying yours as much.

 

If the smoothness of the nib is the main issue thwarting your enjoyment, why not try the brown paper bag routine? That method is the easiest way to see if you can get the nib smoothed out.

 

Good luck.

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I'm still on the prowl for an orange pen, and I've had my eye on the Laban Sceptre . . . perhaps that's a combo I should seriously consider.

 

I have the Conklin Nozac Lava Swirl, which is also worth considering and IMHO even stripier than the Tiger Pearl. I had NOT planned to get an orange pen; on general principles I would have expected to prefer the red version, except that the Lava Swirl jumped right off the screen at me :-).

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I have the Conklin Nozac Lava Swirl, which is also worth considering and IMHO even stripier than the Tiger Pearl

 

Funny . . . I've been looking for a Lava Swirl Nozak at a good price for about six months now. Almost had one on eBay months ago, but I ended up missing the end of the auction by five minutes (I'm a dedicated manual sniper). I finally just bought a Noza, though in the swirled red color . . . it's gorgeous, but not orange. Wanna trade? :thumbup:

"Thus Ar-Pharazôn, King of the Land of the Star, grew to the mightiest tyrant

that had yet been in the world since the reign of Morgoth . . ."

— J.R.R. Tolkien, Akallabêth —

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I love the Laban Mento,its a beautiful pen for very little money the problem I have with this pen is that it comes with an IPG nib and I cant stand these nibs.Not becuase they dont write well simply because it is what it is an IPG nib.

If Laban would put a nib with no name or a Laban nib I'd probably be all over the pen.

Respect to all

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goodguy, Laban has gold nibs, both 14k and 18k. Take a look at isellpens.com. (No affiliation.)

I know Frank but that gets the pen is the expensive relm.As much as I like it-for over 100$ I would get the Lamy 2000 with its piston filler over the Mento.

Respect to all

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before the brown paper bag, has it been inspected through a loupe for tine alignment, or at least drawing X a couple of times?

yeah, i inspected it with a 15x loupe and could see no issue with it (to my untrained eye I should add)

Ive tried the brown bag approach (brown wrapping paper im sure has the same effect ?) and I think i can detect some improvement.

Ive also noticed that if i write smaller and perhaps less rushed with this pen it seems a fair bit smoother - perhaps the ink lubricates better

under these conditions.

 

Edited by declanh
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The Tiger Pearl was my first Laban Mento, too. It was followed by the Amazon Forest, followed by the Celebration Red and Autumn Flake, followed by the Yellow Electric, and followed by the Coal Flake. I'm sure there will be more to follow even though I really don't need more. My Tiger Pearl was scratchy. I wrote on a paper bag which helped some. I have a clipboard that has a little roughness that I write on if the bag doesn't fix it, and I have a smooth river rock that I use if the clipboard doesn't fix it. I had to use the rock before it wrote as smoothly as I wanted. The Amazon Forest was scratchy, but it also had the skipping and drying up problem that some have discussed in other topics. I decided to work on the flow first. I had never tried to make the gap wider on nibs, but I had done a lot of small, delicate adjustments to things like pipes, lighters, and guitars. After having to work on the first nib for smoothness, I purchased a spare nib when I purchased the Amazon Forest. Knowing that I had a spare, I was willing to try making the gap wider. Luckily my first try was successful. The flow was perfect, and the scratchiness was gone, too. I adjusted the gap on the Tiger Pearl and it improved, too. These were now the two best writing pens I have used in my 40+ years of using fountain pens. All of my Mento nibs have been adjusted by me, and I haven't had to do anything else. They all write smoothly after the gap adjustment. Each of the pens have the Fine Point steel nib.

 

ht

Edited by ht1
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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the review.

 

I discovered Laban's last Spring and was impressed with the value. I like large pens with EF to F nibs. The Laban line filled the bill and I have a Kaiser (all ivory, gold furniture), Mento (pumpkin seed), and Boneto (tiger pearl). The Kaiser came with an ink bottle, and one other came in a great wooden box!

 

They are not comparable to really fine Japanese pens (my real passion and weakness) or Pelikan's in nib quality, but they are good everyday workhorses and very enjoyable to write with. If my passion for Japanese pens grows, I may consider selling the Laban's, but I've cleaned out a whole lot of other pens and somehow hold onto these.

 

I appreciate the review(s) and find I have about the same comments. But like one review said, you don't have to spend a whole lot to have a large pen that feels good and writes well.

Edited by Inkstain
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nice pen ;) I really like the color of this pen

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

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After I posted about my six Laban Mento pens I purchased another, and I have two more ordered. These may be my last two because all of the others that I like are too similar to the ones I have, or have ordered. I plan to do pictures and a review of the nine after I have a chance to try them.

 

ht

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